Baumit Jablonec vs Dynamo Kiev Predictions

Baumit Jablonec welcome Dynamo Kiev to the Stadion Střelnice on Thursday aiming to claw their way off the bottom of Europa League Group K. The club from the Czech Republic are competing at the Group Stage of the competition for the first time in their history this season and are desperate to make an impact in their debut campaign at this level.

With five wins from their first ten matches of the new Czech Liga season, it’s fair to say that Baumit Jablonec have had a mixed start to 2018/19. New manager Petr Rada, who joined the club in the summer, has been working to put his stamp on the team, though results have been mixed at best.

Jablonec took just one point from their first two league fixtures of the season before, winning three matches on the spin. That spike in results was short lived however and three successive defeats followed. That dismal run included a 2-1 loss in France against Rennes in Jablonec’s first ever Europa League Group fixture.

Jablonec’s roller-coaster ride continued straight after that triple setback with a wonderful 3-0 win over current Czech champions Viktoria Plzeň. Jablonec followed up that terrific win with a last gasp victory at Teplice on Sunday, sealed by a 90^th minute strike from Luka Masopust.

Those back-to-back triumphs should ensure that confidence is high in the Jablonec ranks ahead of the visit of European regulars Dynamo Kiev. The Ukrainians had to settle for a place in the Europa League this season, having been eliminated from the Champions League pre-qualifiers by Ajax.

Dynamo haven’t let their Champions League disappointment derail their season too much – in fact Kiev have lost only two of their sixteen competitive matches in all since the summer.

Dynamo are on a run of three straight wins, though its worth noting that they have drawn four of their last eight games in total. Ordinarily, Dynamo would be expected to have the edge over Jablonec, though the Czech side are likely to be bursting with adrenaline ahead of their first ever Europa League Group match at the Stadion Střelnice.

Jablonec have lost only two of their last fifteen matches in front of their own supporters and we expect them to make the most of home advantage to battle their way to a point on Thursday. Dynamo already drew their opening Group K match against Astana, and we envisage that they will have to settle for a share of the spoils again this week.

The goal markets are also worth investigating for this one. Dynamo have only failed to score in two of their sixteen fixtures so far in 2018/19, while Jablonec have only failed to hit the net in three of their eleven competitive matches to date this term.

With each team showing consistency and quality in the final third, we’re predicting both teams to get on the score-sheet again this week. Finally, our correct score prediction for Thursday’s Europa League contest a 1-1 draw.